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Eroski
Eroski is a Basque supermarket chain with nearly 1,000 outlets spread across Spain (excluding franchises). It is run as a worker co-operative within the Mondragón Corporación Cooperativa group. The establishments vary in size from the largest hypermarkets, simply named 'Eroski' (of which there are 75 stores, including 40 with petrol stations), down to smaller 'Eroski Center' stores (473, including 2 petrol stations), 219 'Eroski City' outlets and 234 'Eroski Viajes' travel agent centres. The group's total sales floor space is approximately 1,500,000m2. Franchises Aliprox supermarkets are not owned by Eroski, despite having a similar logo. Instead, Aliprox is the brand for franchises. These outlets are independently owned, but still maintain the same product ranges, sales policies and general standard expected throughout the company. There are presently 553 franchised outlets. Facts and Figures Financial *The group's profits in 2004 reached €129million. *This compares to €70million in 2000. *Nearly €2billion have been invested since 2000 on opening new stores. Staff *In 2004, staff numbers exceeded 30,000 for the first time. *Nearly 7,000 new positions have been created in the last four years. For consumers *Eroski is part of the Travel Club customer reward scheme. *The company was founded in 1969 in the regions of Biscay and Gipuzkoa in Spain as a co-operative between ten supermarkets in the region. Its headquarters located in Elorrio, Biscay. *In Basque, 'eros' is the root of the verb 'erosi', meaning 'to buy / to purchase'. The suffix '-ki' usually means 'derivate of'. *The Eroski foundation publishes the costless Consumer Eroski magazine, distributed through the market network. It publishes independent consumer reports about products and services Growth Brand These names replace the former hierarchy of 'Eroski', 'Maxi', 'Consum' and 'Charter', the latter of which was the name reserved for smaller franchise stores. This rebranding took place during the course of 2003-2004 in an effort to re-focus the company as the many different names confused customers. Indeed, regardless of the name over the door, customers inevitably referred to the shops as 'Eroski', not Maxi or Charter. Under the new name, consumers are referring to the company correctly. Spain Eroski purchased recently Caprabo, adding around 500 supermarkets to the chain. France Having taken a strong grip over the Spanish mainland, especially in the Basque Country from where the company originates, the company is now expanding into France. They have three hypermarkets, eighteen supermarkets and seven petrol stations in the country at this time. Alongside this, they also own the Forum sports store chain, 172 perfume shops and six cash and carry outlets. A merger with the Valencia-based co-operative Consum lasted only a few years. In 2005, each went their way. Figures correct as of July 2005. Criticism Trade unions have criticised the anti-unionizing policy of the company. Employees are encouraged to join the co-operative as members after some years under contract. As one of the most visible Basque companies, Eroski has been accused of supporting ETA, and has been subject to boycott campaigns. However, Eroski is the largest Spanish-owned market company. See also *Supermarkets in Spain External links *Eroski Group Website (Spanish, Catalan, Basque, Galician, Valencian and English) *Consumer Eroski magazine. Category:Supermarkets of Spain Category:Mondragón Cooperative Corporation de:Eroski es:Eroski eu:Eroski fr:Eroski gl:Eroski